Sasurai
by Yugure
Summary: Haunting music, an ocean breeze, and a starfilled sky...


Author Notes: This is just a short little thing I was working on a long time ago. I stopped it because I didn't like how it was going, but I finished it anyway just for the heck of it. I was inspired for this by Zelgadis's guitar music, aptly named "Sasurai." This fic is from Lina's POV, not mine.

Standard disclaimer applies: I don't own these characters nor Slayers.

**Sasurai**

"Miss Lina, do you hear something?" Amelia asked. She turned to face me, but I shrugged and rolled over, my back to her.

"No Amelia, I don't. Now go to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow," I replied. I could tell she wanted to ask me more, but with a defeated sigh she snuggled down into her own bed. In only moments she was asleep, her breathing soft and even.

I got out of bed and walked quietly to the window. I had, in fact, heard something out of the ordinary from somewhere outside. It was the sound of music, of a softly strummed guitar. It was beautiful. Sad and haunting, almost lonely, but all in all it was extraordinary. I wondered who the player was and if he or she had suffered great heartache. The music had to have been played by someone who knew the pains of living.

I padded over to the door that led to the main hallway. Maybe I could find the person playing that music. Satisfied that Amelia was deep asleep, I left the room in search of the guitarist.

"The music is clearer now," I murmured to myself. "Coming from someplace close." I paused, just outside the inn's main door. Left or right? To the left was the road into the city. To the right was the ocean. As I held my breath, listening, I headed towards the ocean.  
Yes, that was right. It was closer now.

I scanned the wind-swept beach, looking for anything out-of-place. Nothing, nothing, nothing- wait. What's that? A shadow? No, no... a person! I hurried forward across the sand. The pleasant smell of ocean, the smell that makes one feel alive, drifted my way on a gentle night breeze. I glanced up at the sky. Darker than the blackest pitch, but sprinkled with pinpricks of light... the stars. I was closer now. I only had to climb the dune on which the guitarist sat and played that haunting music. Didn't he see me? Didn't he hear my approach? Wait, how did I know he's a he? Something about his presence...

"Hey! You up there!" I shouted. I was halfway up the dune. "I heard your music from my room at the inn. You're a terrific guitarist. I thought I'd come out and say hello and-"

"Lina?" The music stopped.

What the heck? How did this person know my name? I had reached the top of the dune, so I could clearly see who it was.

Surprise, surprise.

"Zel? What are you doing out here? Why aren't you at the inn?" I blurted out.

"I couldn't sleep," was the lame reply. I crossed my arms and glared at him.

"Sure you couldn't. I just bet. No, really, tell me what's up."

"The sky," Zelgadis said. I rolled my eyes and sat down on the sand. Zelgadis sat down next to me, placing his guitar in front of us.

"That's not what I meant and you know," I said.

"Do you really think I'm a good guitarist?" he asked, avoiding the question.

"Well duh. If I didn't think so I wouldn't have said anything. And I certainly wouldn't have come all the way out here, either," I replied.

"Point taken." Zelgadis nodded his head. I pulled up my knees to my chin and stared out over the ocean.

"You still didn't answer me," I said. I watched the waves pull in and out on the shore for a moment, then turned to look at Zelgadis. "What's bothering you? Why are you out here all alone? You KNOW that we don't like you going off by yourself all the time."

"If I had an answer, I'd tell you," Zelgadis said. He shifted his gaze away from me to look at the sand bathed in moonlight. We didn't speak for a few moments. I continued to watch him and he continued to run his fingers through the sand. Finally I sighed and looked up at the moon. "So you don't know what's bothering you."

"Correct."

"Zel, you know you can tell me anything. Anything. And I wouldn't repeat a word of it to anyone else."

"I'm sure you wouldn't," he said quietly, but sincerely enough so I knew he wasn't being sarcastic.

"And honestly, Zel, stop running away when one of us tries to help. You pull back into that shell of yours and refuse everything we offer. Like it doesn't matter."

"Lina, can I ask you something?"

"Sure." I looked at Zelgadis. He has stopped playing with the sand, and now he was facing me. The expression on his face was so serious, I didn't know what to make of it.

"What are you searching for?"

"Huh?" I was caught of guard. What kind of question was that?

"All of us; every person searches for something in life. Sometimes it's menial things; objects or possessions. Sometimes it's enlightenment. Or knowledge. What do you search for?"

I had nothing to say to that. I had never really thought about my life's search. What was Zelgadis getting at?

"I... I don't know," I replied. Zelgadis continued to look at me in such a way that I felt compelled to elaborate. "I don't know, and actually, I don't care. Why do we need to search for anything in the first place? Who's dictating these rules that humans have to live by? Why can't we just live, simply for the sake of living?" I could tell I was working myself into a frenzy, but I didn't stop. I was on a roll. "I don't plan my life out on some little agenda. I take it one day at a time. Sure, some things need planning. But I don't know what I'll be doing 10 years from now. I don't want to know. It's more exciting if you let life take you by surprise."

"Words of wisdom from the omnipotent Lina Inverse," Zelgadis remarked. I grinned.

"Why ask? What's your life search based on? Your cure, right?"

"That's only part of it."

"There's more?"

"I don't know what I want from life." Zelgadis picked up his guitar again and gently strummed the taut strings. "After my cure, that is." He lapsed into silence but continued to play his guitar. It was the same song I was hearing earlier.

Several minutes passed by. I closed my eyes, letting the music seep into my mind. The slight breeze from the ocean ruffled my hair.  
"What's it called?" I asked. "Your song."

"Sasurai," Zel replied. "'Wandering'."

"How fitting."

"Are you cold?" The concern in his voice caused me to look at Zelgadis.

"A little. Why?" I replied. Zelgadis nodded to his cloak on the sand.

"You're welcome to use that," he said. I smiled and grabbed the cloak.

"Thanks, Zel." I wrapped it around me and snuggled my face into the folds. _ Anything could happen on a night like this..._ I thought absently. _ Anything. _

**Fin**


End file.
